Finding Spots Where Air is Leaking Out of your Home
In the coming months, the weather will be getting colder and it will require more and more energy to keep the environment inside your home warm and comfortable. If you want your home to be as energy efficient as possible, you might want to have it examined before winter hits to detect for spots around your windows or doors where air might be entering or leaving your home. Whether you live in an old home or a new home- any of the properties available on the real estate market, air leaks are a possibility, and they can have a drastic effect on your electricity bill each month. In fact, air leaks can be responsible for as much as one third of a homeowner’s overall heating expenses. Heating expenses are a major utility cost, accounting for perhaps half of all of your overall utility costs.
Air leaks in the home are remedied with the use of techniques such as caulking or weather stripping around the windows and doors in a home. Such procedures can take in part of much of the additional costs brought about by air leaks. It is the perfect time to weather strip areas in your home, as such procedures can immediately make your home easier to heat and insulate effectively. Sealing your home is less important before periods of pleasant weather when heating and air conditioning is not as necessary.
It might seem like gaps and cracks around windows are so infinitesimally small that they cannot significantly impact the temperature in the home. However, a gap of only one eight of an inch around a window is the same as a hole in a wall with a diameter of as much as five and a half inches. This equates to a great deal of cold air leaking into a home.
There are leaks in the home where leaks are more difficult to detect. For example, it is very obvious when there is a draft under a door due to a large gap between the door and the floor. No machinery or procedure is necessary to detect such a crack. However, other types of cracks around other openings towards the exterior of a home are harder to detect. To detect such an opening, it is necessary to first turn the AC units off and seal the house by closing all of the windows and doors. Next, fans and vents in the bathroom and kitchen should be turned on, and incense can be used to see where air is leaking out of the home. Light incense and walk around the home. You will be able to see where air is escaping because the smoke from the incense will make air flow visible. You will see the incense being sucked towards gaps in the walls and towards the outside.
This is a simple, DIY method of looking for air leaks in the home. However, you could rely on professional consultation if you want to be absolutely certain that you are not missing any air leaks. It’s probably wise to make this a regular fall tradition so that you can prepare for the winter months each year. Once you have caulked or weather stripped to stop air from exiting or entering your home, you will see that your heating bills go down considerably.
Image Credit: www.newair.com
